Ex-NFL Star Must Stay in Jail as He's Investigated for Rape in 5 States

Darren Sharper, a former NFL All-Pro safety for the New Orleans Saints, was indicted on two counts of sexual assault and three counts of administering dangerous drugs in Arizona on Thursday. The related incident allegedly occurred last November, when Sharper was employed as an NFL Network analyst. The network fired him earlier this month, and he retired as a player in 2010. Sharper is currently being investigated for sexual assault in four other states. "We know that Darren will vigorously deny the allegations," Sharper's Arizona attorney Skip Donau said on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. "We are hopeful of vindication."

He has been accused of sexually assaulting nine different women and drugging 11 in five states. The alleged incidents occurred between the fall of 2012 and January of this year. Right now, he's sitting in prison in Los Angeles because he was charged with drugging and raping two women in the Hollywood area in January. Sharper has pleaded not guilty to those charges. He was freed on a $1 million bail bond, but then a Louisiana court issued a warrant for his arrest in February on charges of raping two other women, so he went back to to jail.

The New Orleans authorities would have had to indict him today for him to remain in in jail in Los Angeles, and they didn't. So he could've been released again today. Arizona authorities then stepped in and charged him with two counts of sexual assault and three counts of administering dangerous drugs. He'll stay in jail, an Los Angeles judge decided today.

ESPN's legal analyst Lester Munson predicted as much this morning: "The two [Arizona] charges add to a mountain of trouble for him. ... His chances of being released from jail on a bail bond are almost eliminated. I don't think a judge anywhere is going to be willing to let him out with all these charges pending."

Sharper last played for the New Orleans Saints and was instrumental in the team's 2009 Super Bowl win. The NFL has done its best to cut ties with him, but you can still buy his Saints jersey on the NFL online store. In a youth size.